The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-14
A SHOCKING CRIME RECALLED.
Arrest of Two Men for Murder Com
mitted Seventeen Years Ago.

mitted Seventeen Years Ago.
From the Ne,c York Graphic
NASHVILLE, Tenn, Oct. lion June 10
last Gov. Taylor issued requisition papers
for the arrest of Nat H. Whitaker, then in
the State of Arkansas. Whitaker was
arrested in Boone county, that State and
brought to Tennessee a few days ago by
Mack Roland, Deputy Sheriff of Boone
county. The return of Whitaker to Ten
nessee revives the memory of one of the
most horrible murders ever committed i'll
the State. The crime for which Whitaker
is to be tried was committed in Overton
county in January, 1870, but the details
have never been published.
The victim was Andrew Wilson, we'll
to-do farmer, living not far from Roaring
river and eleven miles from Livingston, and
the causes that led to the murder are about
these: Wilson was not only farmer but
an extensive dealer in horses and mules
Twice year he made trips to Alabama and
Georgia with droveS of horses. This life led
him into an extensive and intimate acquain-
lance, not only with the people of the coun-
try, but with the country itself At the
close of the war this acquaintance gave him
a peculiar fitness for seeking out and captur-
ing horse thieves that infested that country.
Mr.. Wilson and Price Whitaker had per-
sonal difficulty about the amount of pay
that the former should receive for capturing
a thief and the horses stolen from the latter.
This quarrel was taken up by Price Whitta-
ker's son, Nat H. Whitaker.
1t was on a cold night in January that
Mr.. Wilson and his Oldest son, John T. Will
son, were awakened by heavy footsteps APP
preaching the house. A moment later two
men stepped upon the floor of the piazza ex-
tending along the side of the house, and two
more steps were heard at the door on the
other side of the dwelling. Some one.
whose voice several of the family claim to
have recognized as that of Nat Whitaker,
called to Mr.. Wilson to open the door. They
refused to tell who they were, but insisted
they were friends Mr.. Wilson and his son,
young man of 20 years, went to the two
doors and positively refused admittance I'M
less those outside would tell who they were
The father armed himself with an ak, the
son with Ratchet and stood guard.
The Ku-Klux, as they claimed to be, then
began an attack with rails and stones upon
the door, Failing in this way to effect an
entrance they told Mr.. Wilson that if he
did not open the dor they would burn the
house and kill every member of the family;
but if he would open the door no one should
be hurt. The door was then opened and the
four men marched i'll with their pistols
cooked, at the time protesting friendship.
AS the first one came i'll his mask was
knocked aside and the face of a man who, it
is said, was recognized as Samuel Lawson
was revealed After the men had entered
they took Mr.. Wilson at the muzzle of three
cooked pistols, and led him out of the yard
into the lane in front of the house. His
family followed him out, begging the men
not to kill him, but while his wife and his
Oldest son were on their knees pleading for
his life, two of the men placed their pistols
to his breast and fired He fell in the arms
,Dfh, SC Pct, not Nl1
The murderers ran away, leaving the terri
fled family with their dead and the darkness
of midnight.
The remainder of the night was spent by
the bereaved family in abject terror, fear
ing that every sound told of the return of
the slayers. Early in the morning an anon
ymous note was found near the gate, saying
1--WE come here for this purpose. We will
kill the whole family if anything is said
about it, As soon as the body of the father
was buried his Oldest son, John, fearful for
his life, left the neighborhood and went to
Kentucky. In April following two masked
men rode up to the house of Mrs. Wilson
and ordered the family to leave the neigh
borhood at once on pain of death. They
left their home in a few days and joined
John.
The murder seems to have passed out of
the mind of the public, but not out of the
minds of the Wilson's. They were deter
mined that the murder of their father
should be legally avenged The family
drifted into poverty and into the West
finally settling in Arkansas. By some
some strange fortune Nat Whitaker also
went West and settled in the same State,
and near enough to the Wilson's for John,
who had become Presbyterian minister
and Sunday evangelist, to discover
him. The second son, Robert, then quietly
came back to Overton county, went before
the grand jury, had Whitaker and Lawson
indicted, and their arrest followed. They
will be tried at the coming term of the Cir
cult Court, if the Wilson's can come from
the West, where they live, to appear as wit
masses